Professional Negligence Law Reporter

Gray v. State, settled before filing, Apr. 11, 2019.

Vernon Gray suffered from developmental disabilities and lived alone in his parents’ former Seattle home. In 2009, a local public health official contacted Washington’s Adult Protective Services (APS) department to report that Gray, 64, was living in a rat-infested home without adequate food. APS concluded that Gray did not meet the definition of a vulnerable adult and closed the case. The following year, a neighbor notified APS that Gray’s rat problem had worsened and that he was in grave danger. APS did not investigate.

In 2013, APS performed a rudimentary investigation after another call from a neighbor, who notified the agency that Gray’s home was being sold out from under him. Although APS identified Gray as someone in need of services, it determined that there was no safe place for a department representative to meet with him and closed the case, deeming it substantiated. In 2016, a neighbor reported that Gray had no water and was unable to care for himself. APS closed its file on Gray, who by that time was blind due to untreated glaucoma. In 2017, Gray was taken to a hospital after reports that he was wandering  through Seattle traffic. He was assigned a guardian and  placed in an adult family home.

Gray claimed that the state and its social services department failed to investigate his case after each complaint and, after it finally took action, performed improper investigations.

The parties settled for $8 million.

Plaintiff counsel: David Moody and AAJ member Ian Bauer, both of Seattle.